


Star Devourers

by bagelistrying



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Blood and Gore, Collaboration, Crewmate Turned Impostor (Among Us), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Exposition, Flashbacks, Fluff in not very fluffy situations, Forgive Me, Halloween, Human Impostor(s) (Among Us), Hurt/Comfort, Long, Me pretending to be an engineering kid, Mental Breakdown, Mental Instability, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Ominous, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Outer Space, Possible Character Death, Science Fiction, Split Personalities, Survival Horror, The Skeld (Among Us), Unethical Experimentation, Unethical Medicine, space enbies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27309730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bagelistrying/pseuds/bagelistrying
Summary: The Skeld finally breaks through the atmosphere, tearing through space away from facility SDSB. 8 crewmates head home, unprepared for what the journey holds, trapped on a ship where the ghost of trust hides in its own shadow.
Relationships: Black & White (Among Us), Black & Yellow (Among Us), Pink & Purple, Red & White, Yellow/Purple
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic i wrote with my buddy Sammy (their Wattpad is _Microsoft_Nerd_), it's been so much fun coming up with the OCs. 
> 
> For reference (though it doesn't really matter):  
> Dark Green: Clover  
> Pink: Valentine  
> Purple: Lavender  
> Yellow: Jaune  
> Red: Rouge  
> Black: Raven  
> White: Silvius  
> Cyan: Sky

The last thing Clover saw was the bright red lights as he cowered in the Shields room. The asteroid belt had been hurtling towards the ship faster than he could conceive, his vision already slipping in and out of focus. He heard stern yelling from Navigation, probably Raven directing Valentine and Lavender. 

Raven was a great leader, but there was no use. The best option they had was to brace themselves, as he was doing, pinned in a corner by the sensors. He had grown used to keeping down the panic in his throat, but he felt himself gasp for air the moment he blacked out.

_ The halls of the facility shone through the thick windows around him. Blurred shapes that may have been scientists darted around behind them, all talking to each other with tangled words that he couldn’t decipher. He couldn’t even tell if the numbing confusion was in his head, or whether they truly were speaking a language he didn’t know. Fear surged through him again, the walls caving in slowly. What were they doing to him? Where were the other members of the crew? Were they all suffering in the same way?  _

_ There wasn’t time for questions. He tried to move but found himself thrashing at straps around his chest. He felt his muscles relax with the sharp pain of a syringe in his neck. Something was creeping into him, a piece of a mind that didn’t obey the rest, that didn’t belong. It was somebody else.  _

_ Suddenly, Clover was standing in the cockpit of the ship, his suit back on and the rest of the crew beside him. Something had happened since then- a memory in the shadows, tugging at the rest of the thoughts swirling in his head. The stars above them glittered against the velvet sky as the ship broke through the atmosphere, machinery rattling from behind the metal walls.  _

_ It seemed far too good to be true. So much of him wanted to believe that they had truly escaped and that they were going home. Right as Raven turned from the pilot’s seat to say something to him, they were cut off by yelling from across the ship. Rouge was standing in the doorway, a hand on his hip.  _

_ “I told you this was a bad idea! Now, look where you’ve gotten us.” He pointed accusingly at Raven, who had turned their attention back to the sky ahead of them, ignoring the sirens as Rouge continued, “...surrounded by asteroids in a faulty ship. How are we gonna-” _

_ Clover sighed and shouldered past him. “Rouge, shut up. There’s no time for this. Just go tell Lavender and Valentine, then let Raven handle it. I’m going to shields.” _

The ceiling of the ship drifted back into focus, rocking back and forth as Clover tried to sit up. Humming from the reactor was ringing in his ears, and though his suit had absorbed a lot of the impact, there was a throbbing pain in the side of his head.  _ Wait- the reactor? _

He thought, slowly climbing up from the ground and squeezing his eyes shut. Something next to his foot rolled a few inches, bumping into his ankle. Opening his eyes again, he frowned. It was a screwdriver. He was in the lower engine room, pretty far from shields. Still a little disoriented, he stumbled back through the storage room to the cafeteria. Raven was already waiting at the center table, their hands folded in their lap and helmet sitting on the table. Clover carefully sat down on the other side of Raven and quietly asked, 

“Where is everyone? What happened?”

“Lavender and Valentine went to look for Jaune. Rouge was by the hull when the crash happened, so he might take a little while to recover. Silvius will be here in a moment, they’re assessing the damage and making sure the ship’s stable while we’re meeting here.”

Clover nodded, tracing a circle on the table. Raven hadn’t mentioned Sky. “What about…” He trailed off, noticing the discomfort in the room and the leader’s solemn expression. 

Raven shifted on the bench, inhaling softly. “Let’s just wait until everyone else gets here.”

**______**

“Raven! Raven, we found Jaune!” Valentine had run in the door from storage, bouncing on her heels. She was shorter than Clover by a few inches and lifted her helmet to reveal fluffy pink hair cut just to her shoulders. Behind her was another girl in a dark purple suit, practically dragging along a much taller figure in a yellow suit. 

Valentine came and sat down on the other side of Raven, patting the bench beside her as Lavender helped Jaune take their helmet off. As they sat down, Clover noticed that their legs were too long to quite fit under the table, so they propped one up on their knee. Nodding away the brown hair that had grown into their eyes, they greeted Raven politely. 

“Are you alright?” They asked.

Raven nodded. “Silvius is on their way back from Medbay, and hopefully Rouge will be up soon. Then we can get started. What about you?”

“A little dizzy, but I’ll be fine. I was in comms during the crash, so it was pretty sheltered. The wiring is a mess, though. Are you sure Silvius has got it under control?”

“That sounds like you’re doubting me,” Someone called from the other side of the cafeteria. Smiling, Jaune moved closer to Lavender, freeing up space for Silvius to sit down. 

Clover leaned over to Raven. “Should we just start without Rouge? I don’t think it’s worth-“

“No, we should wait,” Raven disagreed. “If needed, we can get him to Medbay first, I just want everybody here,”

“Where is he now?” Silvius asked. “I can find him and make sure he gets here soon,”

“He’s knocked out in the hall between Nav and oxygen. I’d appreciate it if you got him up.”

“Hold on, why do you care so much? Rouge hasn’t done anything for you,” Clover frowned. He was sure that everyone on board didn’t like him. 

“I know he’s obnoxious sometimes, but he’s a good crewmate. Just be patient, alright?” Silvius responded, getting up from the table again and striding over to the other side of the cafeteria. They returned a few minutes later with Rouge beside them, arms folded as he sat down next to Silvius at the table.

“What’s the deal?” He asked, deciding not to acknowledge the fact that he was the last to arrive.

Valentine leaned across to look at him, her eyes wide. “We crashed into an asteroid!”

“I  _ know _ that. What I meant was, shouldn’t we be fixing the ship or something?”

“That can wait,” Raven said. Their voice was lower than usual, making everyone (even Rouge) fall silent as they continued. “You may notice that only seven of our eight members are here,”

Silvius was staring down at their lap, avoiding the concerned glances across the table.  _ Of course.  _ Clover thought. Raven trusted Silvius more than anyone, so it made sense they would tell each other the news first. 

“Before the crash, Sky was keeping the reactor from melting down. On impact, we can only assume that one of the parts came loose and…” Raven’s voice suddenly cracked. They inhaled again before continuing. “Killed her. I wanted to let you all know of this before we continue our journey. All I ask of you is that you stay safe and please, remember her.” 

Raven stood up from the table. “Silvius has assigned you all tasks around the ship. It may take days to complete them but try your best. We  _ will  _ make it out of here, alright? Thanks, everyone. I’ll be in Nav if you need me,”

Raven sighed and walked out of the cafeteria. Clover had never seen them look so broken. Silvius had already started telling the others their tasks, handing Valentine a slip of paper so she would remember. 

“Clover?” They asked.

“Yes,”

“Raven wants you to align the engines, prime the shields, and if you have time, clean the oxygen filter. Got it?”

He nodded and got up, headed to the upper engine room. He saw Valentine immediately grab Lavender’s arm and run off to electrical, Silvius still talking quietly with Rouge at the table. Rouge nodded and walked back towards navigation, and Silvius ran across the cafeteria to Clover.

“Hey! I’ll walk with you, I need to get to Medbay anyway,”

“Sure,”

“You okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just that something weird happened earlier…” Silvius had put their helmet back on and was matching their footsteps with Clover. “You know how I was in shields when the asteroid hit?”

“I think so. I saw you going that way but didn’t have time to follow you. Why?”

“God, this sounds dumb.” He muttered. “When I woke up, I was in the lower engine room, and I don’t know how I got there. As I said, it’s weird,”

Silvius nodded. “Strange. I mean, maybe you just don’t remember it. I’m completely blanking on how we even got on this ship, but if it’s really bothering you, just go and talk to Raven. I’m sure they’ll understand,”

“Yeah… and there’s still the whole thing with Sky. I feel so terrible about it,”

Silvius just nodded solemnly. Then they smiled, pointing a thumb over their shoulder. “I gotta stop here. See you later!” They ducked into Medbay, and Clover watched them leaning over the samples, adjusting knobs on the machine. He blinked.  _ Right, the engines.  _ He kept walking down the hall and into the upper engine room. Wrench in hand, he began to adjust the various pneumatics. 

What felt like hours passed, his gloves growing stained with patches of grease and machine oil. He was so hyper-focused on finishing that he almost forgot about what had happened to Sky. On the mission, they thought they would all end up dead, but to see that they still weren’t going to return unscathed stung. 

Sky had been a mentor to both Valentine and Lavender, showing them the ropes on the way there and keeping them occupied. She was usually laid back but knew the ship like the back of her hand. Clover didn’t want to forget her. He blinked, focusing back on the engines. Jaune was just down the hall trying to start up the reactor, so he leaned through the doorway and called out to them. 

“Jaune? Do you know what time it is?”

He heard his crewmate set down their pen. “Almost 8 UCT. Why?” They responded.

“Once we’re done for the day, I wanted to check in with Silvius again.”

“We’ve still got five minutes, so they’re probably still in Medbay,” Jaune fell silent again, humming to themselves over the tapping of a keypad. 

Clover got up and wiped the leftover grease on their suit, glancing back at the engines. They would hold up for a little longer, but he’d need time to finish them after getting some rest. For now, he headed over to Medbay, fiddling with his gloves. Silvius was rearranging the covers on one of the hospital beds and looked up as Clover walked in.

“Hey, Clover!” They grinned. 

Clover lifted his hand to greet them but suddenly stopped. Something felt weird- like one of the wires between his mind and his arm had frayed. He was commanding his hand to lift, but the signal wasn’t going anywhere. He tried to step forward, but the same thing happened, the energy he was putting into movement just drifted out of him. He was stuck.  _ W-what is this?  _ He thought, trying to speak, but found his jaw shut. What was wrong with him?

“I was just wrapping up, then I’m gonna grab some dinner. Are you-“ They tilted their head slightly at his blank expression. “Are you okay?” 

Then something even more terrifying happened. He nodded. But... that wasn’t what he wanted to do- he wanted to ask for help, to be able to move freely again. Silvius shrugged. 

“Cool! Let me just finish this, and I’ll catch up with you outside.” They leaned back over the sample, jotting down notes on their clipboard. Clover tried to squeeze their eyes shut, or just something, but only ended up feeling even more disoriented. Now, he wasn’t even in the same place. 

His sight was dragging a few seconds behind his movements, making him feel like he was watching somebody else. Maybe he was. As his vision caught up again, he noticed his foot was moving forward, walking down between the hospital beds towards Silvius. Then, he was reaching up to his other hand, pulling off one of his dirty gloves and using the bare palm to reach into the pocket of his suit. 

Clover had already tried screaming. It hadn’t worked. Despite this, he still tried to yell for help, abandoning his dignity as he tried to fight back against whatever had taken control of him, struggling to push back against the hand that flicked open his Swiss Army knife and strode silently over to Silvius. 

There was nothing left he could do but watch as the knife sank into the back of his crewmate’s neck, choking down a wave of nausea as his arm cruelly twisted the blade deeper into the flesh. He could feel it too, now. The scraping on bone, Silvius’ desperate gasp for air as blood filled their windpipe and they crumpled into a heap on the floor, their helmet falling astray.

Choking on their own throat, Silvius clutched the back of their neck weakly as they tried to speak, staring up at the shape above them. “Why...” they gurgled, blood dripping out of the side of their mouth as they lay there. “I’m...” they took in another sharp, shivering breath, only to cough out another cascade of blood onto the tiled floor. “...sorry...” 

Their ragged breathing suddenly hitched before ceasing. Their eyes grew unfocused and glassed over as their arms fell limp over their shoulder. Clover saw himself walk over to the air vent on the ground near the samples. Digging his fingers under the grate, he threw it open and chucked the Swiss Army knife in. Then, he walked back to the doorway to Medbay, pulled his glove back on, and let his hands fall to his sides.

Clover suddenly regained control. All the panic that had built up hit him all at once, the dizziness overwhelming him so much that he had to grab his chest and keel over to keep himself from vomiting. His other arm fell against the door frame, half supporting him as his eyes stung. 

Taking in a shuddering breath, he squinted to focus on the hall outside before yelling, “Jaune! Raven! Someone! Help, please! Something-“ he heard footsteps growing faster from the upper engine room, Jaune’s tall figure emerging from the shadows.

“What happened?” They stopped dead at the entrance to Medbay, a hand clamping over their mouth. They glanced at Clover, who still couldn’t register what had happened. He felt so disgustingly helpless. Jaune’s hand slid back to their side. “Raven! We need you at Medbay, now!” 

Raven’s footsteps came even quicker than Jaune’s had, nearly sprinting through the cafeteria and catching themselves in front of the two. Jaune turned to see Val and Lav arrive behind him. They suddenly reached out to the two, holding Lavender by the shoulder and covering Valentine’s eyes before guiding them back towards the engine room. 

Raven stood in the doorway a minute, staring at the scene, their expression unreadable. Then, they strode over to the body, muttering something under their breath. Clover could feel Rouge behind him but didn’t acknowledge it. He just walked up behind Raven, searching for a way to tell them what had happened.

“Clover, please leave,” Raven said softly. That stunned Clover. It was very much unlike Raven to do anything in an emergency but look for the facts, interrogate people, and keep everyone under control.

“I- I-“ Clover tried to reply, but he couldn’t explain it. He didn’t have the strength to describe to Raven that he saw every second of the murder, but still had no clue who did it.

“Clover.” Raven’s voice was suddenly stern and angry. “ _ I am commanding you to leave. _ ”

Clover swallowed and nodded. Two words were branded in his mind, gleaming in front of his face as he turned away from Medbay:

_ It’s you. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rouge doesn't have a plan, because he never expected something like this to happen. But maybe he can find comfort in someone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter! A lot more character interactions being built and reflection on the events of the last chapter.

Rouge leaned back in his office chair, pressing his head against the wall of O2. Silvius was gone. 

The only person on the entire ship who could carry a conversation with him without telling him to shut up and go away. 

He was still shocked from what happened to Sky, but now he just felt numb. He didn’t want to know what happened to Silvius, he didn’t want to think about it, but all of his thoughts eventually drifted back, drawn in like a magnet by the pulsing anticipation of misery. He wondered where everyone else was. 

He had never seen Clover so terrified before. His crewmate’s entire body was shaking and he could barely stand up, his face pale and stretched with horror. Even Raven managed to console themselves before demanding that everyone left.  _ I guess it just shows how good a leader they are. _

Rouge didn’t care too much about Raven. While he thought Valentine was bratty and Clover was an arrogant prick, Raven seemed to have decent intentions. Maybe it was just because they were the only one who even implied an objection when Lavender and Jaune announced that they were dating. Sure, it was about keeping relationships stable until they got home and staying on track, but Rouge just didn’t like either of them. 

_ God, I hate a lot of people. _ He told himself. But not Silvius. They always seemed to care about him and only showed up when he needed help with something. Even when he didn’t want to admit it. 

_ Maybe if I find something else I need help with, Silvius will come back, even just for a minute… Dammit, that sounds like something Valentine would say.  _ He thought, his lips pulling into a pained smile at the ground. But still. He wanted one more chance to talk to them, just to say thank you for everything, remind them of all the time they spent together.

_ The Skeld, Route to Facility SDSB _

_ Rouge sprinted out of the hall from comms, his feet clanging against the metal threshold as he weaved between the cafeteria tables and over to Medbay, his argument with Lavender still ringing in his ears.  _

_ Of course he had to lose his temper and say the nastiest thing he could think of. Sure, he didn’t like Lav that much, but he had gone too far. They didn’t even know where they were going, they only knew that they were going to some kind of facility from the records Jaune found.  _

_ How were they going to survive if he treated everyone on the ship like garbage? He flopped down on one of the beds, staring at the lattice ceiling, imagining shapes in the fissured panels. He lay there for a minute or two, his usual playlist of regret going on repeat in his mind.  _

Nobody’s ever going to like you _. He sighed, trying to ignore the voice, but it wouldn’t leave him alone. He squeezed his eyes shut, frustrated to feel hot tears seep down his face.  _

How stupid. You’re sitting here alone, and crying over what you said instead of actually apologizing. You’re such a child _. Just as Rouge tried to muffle another sob, he heard a voice in the doorway. _

_ “Rouge? Are you okay?” _

_ He recognized the voice, but didn’t move. “Hi, Silvius,” he replied with a shaking breath. “What, come to tell me that Lav hates me and that I shouldn’t have insulted her?” _

_ “No,” Silvius replied simply. Rouge sat up. A familiar white suit was peeking around the corner to Medbay, stepping through the doorway and sitting down next to him on the bed.  _

_ “I get it, you ‘just want to talk to me’?” he said mockingly. _

_ “If you want to talk, that’s okay, I’ll listen. But we can just sit here if you feel like it,” _

_ Rouge leaned forward with his palm on his cheek, sighing. Silvius just sat there next to him, swinging their feet idly on the edge of the bed while staring off into the hall. Rouge would never admit it, but it was comforting. He finally spoke up. “I wish it was easier to be nice to people. How do you do it?” _

_ “Do what?” Silvius tilted their head. _

_ “Just… be such a good person, you know? I said some really disgusting things to Lav, probably stuff that would make everyone stay away from me forever, but you’re just- here…?” _

_ Silvius shrugged. “Lav didn’t care too much. Plus, she’s got Jaune to talk about it with for as long as she wants. I wanted to come keep you company,” _

_ “So you pity me,” _

_ “No,” Silvius said again. “I don’t think you need to be pitied. I think you could handle it on your own just fine, but at least for me, being alone with my thoughts sucks. I guess I wanted someone to talk to as well.” _

_ Rouge wiped a tear off his cheek. “Well, I’m not sure I’ll be any help. When I’m not a complete mess, I’m just mean,” _

_ “But that shows that you don’t like being mean,” Silvius reasoned. “So that’s still admirable. If you  _ enjoyed  _ insulting people, then you wouldn’t be a very good person. But you don’t, and feel bad about it, even if you don’t get any other punishment.” _

_ “What, and that makes me a good person?” Rouge half-laughed. _

_ “Yeah,” _

_ “I don’t know. I’ll just- keep trying, I guess,” _

_ Silvius nodded. _

_ “Thanks,” _

_ I think you could handle it on your own just fine _ . Rouge recalled.  _ I guess that was a lie _ . He tried to shake the thought. He hadn’t given up yet, but he hated the voice so much. If only he could get it shut up, just for once-

Rouge stopped. A soft sound was rippling through the hallway from Navigation. He glanced over his shoulder. “Hello?” He figured it might have been Valentine fiddling with something in the hall, so they didn’t expect a gentle reply. 

“Hey, Rouge.” It was Raven’s voice. It was more high pitched than usual and the tiniest bit unsteady. Like Raven was trying to hide how much it was trembling.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Rouge cursed himself at the leader’s reply. What a stupid question. Of course Raven wasn’t okay, their sibling had just  _ died _ . He felt worse now. Why did he get to cry about losing Silvius when other people were hurting far more? He wasn’t allowed to be that selfish. 

“I’m sorry,” 

“You don’t have to be sorry about anything, you didn’t do anything. I’m the one who should be sorry,”

“What, why?” Rouge was a little taken aback.

“I’m the leader here, I’m supposed to be tough and keep it together so my crewmates can follow. You’re not supposed to see me like this, you’re supposed to see the part of me that knows how to handle everything. The useful part…” 

Rouge didn’t know how to reply. Hearing Raven talk like that stung, how the collected, assertive leader felt like… they were worth nothing. “Raven, I never knew that you felt that way.”

“Of course you didn’t. I spent my whole life hiding it,”

“Well, you don’t have to. Having emotions doesn’t make you weaker. Look at me,”

“I can’t, the door’s shut,” Raven replied. Rouge could have sworn he heard them muffle a laugh with another sob.

“I meant  _ metaphorically _ ,” Rouge continued. “Look at me, I act like I’m tough and that I don’t care about how literally everyone on this ship hates me. I do care. Silvius kinda… was the only person nice to me,”

“I guess I wasn’t very nice to you, either,” Raven said softly. “Maybe I just convinced myself I hated you cause you don’t do tasks,”

“But, the thing is…” Rouge paused, deciding whether to continue or not. No, Raven had the right to know. He was a little offended that Raven never opened up, but what opportunity had he given them? “You all kind of have a right to hate me. I’m not… a very good person. I’m not tough, I’m not cool, I’m just selfish and overbearing. I don’t even know why I’m like this, the only thing I can think of is that I’m… scared…?” He didn’t know how to end the sentence, so he just left it hanging, suspended in the silence between them. “God, I’m gonna regret telling you this,” he muttered. Raven snickered again.

“We all have things we regret. It’s such an awful feeling, like anger and disgust and embarrassment all mixed together, except there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“I’m sorry for being a bad friend,” he stopped. “Are we friends? I don’t know,”

“We tolerate each other,” Raven replied.

Rouge nodded to himself, running his tongue along his teeth. “Tolerate,” he repeated. “I like that,” he took a deep breath. “Thanks, Raven,”

“Thank  _ you _ ,” He heard the door to Navigation open again. “I’m going to admin to monitor everyone.” Rouge stood up from his chair again, stepping into the hall to meet the leader. They met his gaze with watery eyes, half grinning. Rouge stepped forward, pulling them into an embrace. He felt Raven’s shoulders relax, gently returning the gesture before letting him go. 

“You’re a good leader,” Rouge said.

“You’re a good crewmate,” Raven replied before nodding farewell. 

Valentine found herself awake in the dark, the soft hum from the computers vibrating in the air. She slowly got up, hoping the rustling from her suit didn’t wake up Jaune, who was asleep on the other side of the small room. Climbing to her feet, she heard footsteps outside, so she stepped carefully out into the hall. 

“Lav?” She whispered. She felt a warm hand grasp her own.

“Val, what are you doing up?” Came Lavender’s voice, also kept low as she set a hand on Valentine’s shoulder.

“I didn’t want to sleep,” She replied.

Lavender sighed. “I would tell you that it’s really late and you should be asleep, but…”

“No, no, that’s Jaune’s job.” Valentine cut her off. 

“Hold on, let me get a flashlight. Stay here.” Lavender returned a moment later with a flashlight in hand, lighting up the halls in a bright while glow that bloomed across the walls. “Okay. I can’t sleep either. I’m gonna walk around for a little bit, do you want to come with me?”

Valentine nodded, and the two set off to walk around storage, muffling giggles at the others’ jokes. When they passed the cafeteria, Lavender even managed to steal a granola bar that they split between them as they headed back around to communications. 

“Lav?” Valentine asked, throwing away the wrapper and jogging to catch up with her outside comms. 

“Yeah?”

“What happened to Silvius?”

Lav fell silent in the dark, clicking off the flashlight and leaning against the wall. “Did you already ask Jaune that?”

“Yeah. They say that Silvius just got hurt. But I think they were lying. I don’t think he was trying to be mean, but I don’t like it when people lie.”

Lav sighed. “I’m telling you this because I care about you. It’s… hard to think about, and I understand why Jaune told you that, but… Silvius died.”

Valentine looked down at her hands. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but nodded solemnly. “Okay. Um- thanks for telling me, Lav. You- I’ll be okay, right? We’re gonna make it out of here?”

Lavender guided Valentine back into comms, and smiled as she lay down again. “We’re gonna win.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually ended up cutting two scenes from this chapter, one was a short interaction with Clover and Valentine, and the other was a second Silvius/Rouge flashback. One just didn't quite fit with the timing, and the other i fucked up and wrote from the wrong perspective oops
> 
> I've actually had to cut a lot of stuff out, like there are only mentions of sabotages, and I'm still playing with the facility subplot. Yeah this work might be a little messy, but hopefully it'll work out, because this story is definitely one I'm proud of.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clover has no choice but to lock himself in security for the night. The next day, Raven doesn't show up to the crew's meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why am i too damn invested in this group of faceless monochrome astronauts god help me

Clover carefully shut the door to security, locking it tight before sinking against the back wall. The lights were off, leaving only the harsh white glow from the monitors on the desk. The team rarely used the cameras, so most of the time they were off, the screens displaying either static or a blurry shot of the floor. 

The crewmates trusted each other. He ran a hand through his hair, biting down on his lip. Now he couldn’t even trust himself. His eyes stinging, he tried to convince himself that he wasn’t responsible for it. It was another person inside of him, because he, Clover, would never harm one of his crewmates. 

_ I’m not responsible for what happened to Sky, either _ . He told himself sternly, but he was sure now that the demigirl’s death was connected. Waking up across the ship from where he blacked out was too suspicious to be a coincidence, though he wasn’t sure what was more terrifying; seeing himself pull a knife on his crewmate, or having to piece together clues that only confirmed something even more chilling.

He stared at his reflection in the steel door, the side of his face illuminated with the cold light as he recalled the moments before the incident. It was like the intrusive thoughts that sometimes flickered in his mind had been harnessed and brought to life. 

It was the same sick voice that told him to shove his hand into moving parts of the reactor to see what would happen or to divert the power to the oxygen room when he was working in electrical. They weren’t common for him, but he still couldn’t get over the fact that he had no control. 

That was it- control. Clover always was on top of everything, formulating a plan B whenever he could. But now… not even his body was his. Something had proved to be able to take over, leaving him with no options. Nothing but watch. He needed to tell Raven. 

He wanted to give them time, but what if he didn’t have it? The sharpness in Raven’s voice as they hunched over Silvius’ body echoed in his head, and a shiver ran down his back. Silvius somehow cared about everyone on the ship, finding a bright side to any situation. Without them, the team’s morale may not have been high enough to escape the facility at all.

Everything felt so dangerous. Every step forward was a risk, a possibility that he would slip out of himself again. He shut his eyes, the walls pressing the back of his suit against his neck. He heard Jaune walk by outside, long strides slowing for a moment behind the door to security, then continuing. They had offered to finish Silvius’ tasks as well as Clover’s so everyone could rest. He tried to think of a plan, something that would keep his crewmates safe. 

_ What if…  _ he felt his eyes snap open in the dark.  _ Of course _ . He had told Silvius about waking up in the engine room a few hours before the incident. If the end goal was to kill somebody, why wouldn’t it be Jaune, right down the hall, or Valentine, who would never see it coming? He pressed his hand to his temple. He had already confessed to Silvius. But that meant… 

_ the best option is to keep everything a secret _ . A voice rang in his head, echoing over visions of a blood-spattered Medbay as he drifted off to dreamless sleep.

Everyone averted their eyes from the empty seats at the table as they sat down the next morning. There was a complete void of chatter, everyone visibly uneasy. Clover could feel the cold silence hanging above them, suspended by the lack of Silvius’ optimistic remarks. It was so… unfriendly. 

He had still been thinking over the best course of action to take regarding the incident. It was clear now that anyone who found out was a target.

“Is Raven here?” Clover asked, finding their voice still hoarse from just waking up.

“I thought they were the one who told us to meet here,” Lavender said, leaning on Jaune’s shoulder and staring up at the ceiling of the cafeteria.

“They were,” Jaune frowned. 

“Where did they go?” Valentine asked Lavender.

“I’m not sure,” She replied.

Rouge stood up. “You don’t think they’re…” he paused, his eyes darting between the crew members suspiciously. “...do you?”

“No,” Clover interrupted, also getting to his feet. “I-” he swallowed. “I’ll find them,” Rouge glanced at him suspiciously. 

“How do we know you didn’t kill Silvius?” Rouge retorted, his eyes growing wide. “What, we’re just going to let you run off to slaughter our leader alone? No way!” Clover inhaled, remembering his plan.  _ It’s for their own good. _

Valentine looked taken aback. “Rouge, that’s so mean! It was an accident, and Clover would never do that!” Jaune glanced at her, then down at Lavender before nodding.

“No, I hate to admit it, but he has a point,” Jaune was watching the two who stood staring each other down, gently nudging Lavender off his shoulder. “We’re still not one hundred percent sure what happened, but we need to be careful. Clover, I’ll come with you. Plus, we’ll find them quicker if there are two of us. Is that alright?”

Slowly, Clover nodded. He was a little uneasy about being alone with Jaune, but if they found Raven before anything happened, he doubted that either of them would be in danger. It seemed whatever was taking control of him didn’t want to be discovered, so it would be unreasonable for him to lose control in front of two people.

“Great,” They replied, then turned to Lavender. “I’ll be right back, babe. Don’t worry about me,” Kissing her on the cheek, they turned and nodded to Clover, walking with them towards the front of the ship. 

“For the record, I don’t think you did it,” Jaune mentioned as they stepped out of sight. “I don’t think it was even a murder. We’ve come too far for that, and Rouge… well, he doesn’t always make the best decisions.” 

Clover only nodded, and the two walked silently through the ship. Clover stood back as Jaune ducked into Navigation but found nothing, only shrugging and continuing to search the ship. After searching the oxygen, shields, and comms rooms, Jaune started walking faster, glancing nervously at Clover. The storage door was shut. Clover carefully reached to handle and slid it aside, light from the hall spilling over the pile of crates in the center of the room. No sign of Raven. With another glance over his shoulder, he stepped inside and walked around the back of the largest crate.

A figure lay against the wood, helmet folded under its arm. The black suit material was almost invisible in the dark. Clover stepped back, almost tripping over a leg that was stretched out in his path. 

“Raven?” He asked softly. “Are you…?” There was no response. 

Jaune strode over to them, kneeling over the figure and speaking sternly but clearly. “Raven, can you hear me? Are you alright?” Still nothing. Jaune stood up again, slowly shaking their head.

Clove took a step back. “That’s impossible, how did they-”

He suddenly heard the material rustle, and a low voice reply, “No,” he looked down. Raven had opened their eyes, sighing. “No, I’m...fine. What do you need?”

“Oh, thank god,” Jaune clutched their chest. “Um, you told us to meet in the cafeteria at one, didn’t you?”

Raven swore under their breath. “I forgot. Sorry,” They carefully stood up from the crate, limply holding their helmet by the neck before opening the door back to the cafeteria. 

All the gazes followed Raven as they walked around the table. Now, in the bright light of the cafeteria, they could all see the leader’s expression. It seemed- hollow. The darkness from storage seemed to have followed them, the shadows across their face sinking into the rings under their eyes. They looked like they hadn’t slept at all, their hair untidy. 

“Silvius’ death was a murder,” They stated simply, looking around at all of them. 

Rouge shot a condescending glance at Val. Clover just ignored it, shifting in his seat. 

“What?” Lavender gasped, letting go of Jaune’s hand. “How do you know?”

Raven shut their eyes for a moment, reaching into the pocket of their suit. “I found this in the vent right next to the body after everyone left,”

With a dull clink, Raven set something down in front of them. As their hand lifted off, Clover saw Jaune bite their lip. It was a pocket knife. The leader inhaled. “Everyone, please take out your pocket knives and set them in front of you,”

Clover’s heart skipped a beat. Of course- his knife was thrown into the vent afterward. He didn’t have it. Panic coursed under his skin. What was he going to say now? If he turned himself in, the entire crew was as good as dead. He had no idea what to do, so he stood there, his eyes darting across the table, as the rest retrieved their knives and set them in front of them.

Raven’s eyes swept across the table, narrowing when they reached Clover. “Clover, would you like to explain why you don’t have your knife?”

He opened his mouth to speak but was suddenly interrupted by someone else. It took him a moment to register it, noticing that none of his crewmates were talking.

It was his own voice. His heartbeat felt like it had just doubled. Seeing his limbs move without him was one thing, but the words rang in his head like it was a recording of his voice that he had never heard before. Something didn’t quite fit, either. His voice was low and calm, instead of how he normally spoke - tense and directly. 

“Raven, may I see the weapon?” His heart was pounding in his chest as they held up the knife, and he walked around the table. He folded it over in his hand, looking at the handle before nodding. “This is my knife,” He confirmed as Raven quickly took back the blade, folding it and setting it back on the table. “But it still couldn’t have been me. I was fixing the engines, Jaune saw me, so my gloves were covered in machine oil. That knife’s clean,” 

“What about-” Rouge started.

“That’s not all. If I  _ was  _ the killer and pulled something to get the grease off it, then what would the point be in throwing it in the vent? Wouldn’t I have wanted for everyone to see that it was clean? It doesn’t make any sense,” he brushed his hands off on his suit, returning to his seat. Lavender was staring at him, her mouth slightly agape.

“Woah…” she gasped as Clover leaned over the table, hands folded. “I didn’t know you were so good at deduction. You’re giving Jaune a run for their money!” The words suddenly grew louder in his ear, like someone had uncovered a speaker as he regained control. He inhaled sharply, grabbing the edge of the table to stay upright. Raven’s head snapped in his direction as he calmed himself down, crossing his feet uneasily beneath the table.

“Um, yeah. I’ve been practicing,”  _ What am I saying?  _ At least now he had been given an alibi to work with. He could only pray that over time the suspicion of him would be low enough that he could figure out how to stop the episodes.

“Well, I still think it was Clover,” Rouge said, folding his arms. 

“That’s because you hate me-” He muttered in reply.

“And because you’re a murderer!” 

“Both of you, stop,” Raven said, exhaling. “We don’t have time to argue. We don’t know when they’ll strike next, and-”

“Next?” Valentine asked, scratching the side of her face. “What do you mean?”

“They have already proved to be a serial killer. What happened to Sky was not a mistake, either. Upon further investigation, the part that fell on her was securely bolted beforehand, and I found a screwdriver in the lower engine. Somebody- one of us - removed the screws,” Clover internally cursed himself. Raven had found out about Sky already, putting them at a much higher risk.

Val still didn’t look convinced. She folded her arms onto the table, resting her chin on her forearm. “How do we know it was one of us? Couldn’t it have been a stowaway or something?”

“There’s nowhere they could hide,” Raven shrugged. “There’s spare space in the hull, but they would have been vaporized during the crash. Hiding in the engines or landing gear is almost certain death, and I’ve scoured the rest of the ship,”

“And there’s nothing?” Jaune asked.

“Nothing,”

“Well…” Lavender bit her lip.”What are we gonna do about it? I- I don’t want to die...”

“I’ve turned the security systems back on. Try to be with someone while you’re doing tasks, and report anything you see,” Raven said, pointing to the camera in the corner of the cafeteria. The light on the side was blinking red. “In the meantime, get back to your work, because it will be easier to track them down without having to worry about the ship breaking down.”

“So we’re not even going to accuse somebody? Are you stupid?” Rouge asked, slamming a hand on the table.

Raven just shook their head. “Honestly, I hoped someone would own up, but they had to make this difficult. I’ll meet you later.” They pocketed the knife and walked out of the cafeteria.

Once Lavender and Jaune had walked off together with Val trailing behind, Clover got up, exhaling softly. His heartbeat had slowed a little bit, and he didn’t feel like he had to hold his breath for minutes at a time. Rouge, still sitting at the table, picked up his Swiss Army knife and turned to Clover, eyes narrowed. “I still don’t trust you, you know.” He held up the blade to Clover threateningly. “Don’t try anything.” He folded the knife and tucked it away, glancing over his shoulder before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes i wrote that scene to give the reader a heart attack dw ravens still alive


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Last night, Clover had locked himself in security, setting the doors to open in the morning or if someone else came to get him. He had taken all the possible precautions to make sure that he wouldn’t be able to get anywhere at all when he was asleep, which meant..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to rewrite this scene a bunch because i couldn't keep track of everyone's reasoning that was fun

The next day, Raven was found dead. They didn’t show up to the daily meeting again, so Jaune went to look for them in storage, but they were lying next door in admin, not breathing and drenched in blood. Jaune reported it immediately and now sat down with the others. “Lavender. Since I trust you, let’s start with what you have to say just to get some base information. Where were you last night?” 

Lavender nodded. “I had locked myself in the upper engine like I usually do. I hear you go from the reactor to storage, then down to comms, right?”

Jaune nodded. “That’s right, but-”

“Wait, since you pass through storage every night, you would have seen Raven going to admin!” Rouge interrupted. 

“Only if they went that way at exactly 8. Why?”

“If you had seen them go to admin, it wouldn’t have taken you so long to find them this morning, meaning you could have just cut past Nav and O2 and killed them beforehand!”

Jaune shook their head. “No, I looked at the bloodstains. They were killed earlier, at night. Probably around 1. But that…” they frowned, tracing their path through the ship on the table. “Hold on. That doesn’t make sense. All the doors were locked at the time, including the one admin. Nobody could have gotten to Raven at night without tearing down a door.”

“Unless…” Lavender’s gaze had drifted to the corner of the cafeteria and was focused on the ground near the door. You could practically see the thoughts swirling in her brain as she explained. “There’s another way they could have gotten in.” She stood up. “The killer already proved that they know how to quickly unlock the vents. What if they crawled through them to get to admin?”

“That is…” Rouge was staring at her with a mix of confusion and disgust on his face. “... _ so stupid, _ ”

“Oh,” she replied defeatedly, slumping her shoulders.

“No, she’s right,” Jaune said. “That does make sense. Raven was in a vulnerable position the night after Silvius’ death, so why didn’t the killer get them then?” Valentine cocked her head. “There are no vents in storage,”

Lavender’s eyes lit up. “That’s good! Now we’re looking for someone who was in a room with a vent to admin. Also, someone who didn’t come up here through storage,”

“Well, I wasn’t in any rooms.” Valentine piped up. “I was going to hang out in O2, but Rouge kicked me out for being annoying. I just slept in the hall,”

“That’s good to know. All the doors were locked and there isn’t a vent in that hall-”

“Yes, there is!” Rouge interjected. “I dropped a pen in it once and spent hours trying to get it out. I never did. Do you know where it was?” Jaune glanced quizzically at him. “Right outside O2.”

Val’s bottom lip quivered. “You think… I did it?”

Jaune rubbed their eyes beneath their glasses. “I don’t think it’s Val.”

“I thought you wanted to cover all the options! I think it’s pretty clear that we can’t trust each other, so I’m just proposing that-”

“Rouge!” Jaune exclaimed, eyes glinting. “Raven originally suspected Clover and voiced it clearly during the meeting. Now they’re dead and he still hasn’t said anything this whole time, and yet…” They inhaled. “...you’re still accusing the goddamn  _ child! _ ?”

Clover glanced up at the mention of his name. He had been zoned out for most of the meeting, trying to register what had happened. He didn’t have time to try and defend himself or give his side of the story.

Last night, he had locked himself in security, setting the doors to open in the morning or if someone else came to get him. He had taken all the possible precautions to make sure that he wouldn’t be able to get anywhere at all when he was asleep, which meant...

Someone else had killed Raven.

He realized that everyone’s eyes were on him. “I- Sorry, I just-”

“It’s fine. Rouge, calm yourself down for once. I want to hear what Clover has to say. Where were you last night, how did you get there, and what was your path back to the cafeteria?”

His hands were shaking beneath the table. At least now he didn’t have to completely lie about it, just make sure he didn’t spill anything else about the episodes or Silvius. “I had locked myself in security-”

“Why?” Jaune asked with an elbow on the table.

“It’s so that I don’t accidentally lean on the dashboard or mess with stuff when I’m asleep. In security, all the equipment is on the tables,” That wasn’t  _ entirely  _ true. Yes, he didn’t want to mess up anything in his sleep, but more specifically, he didn’t want to have anything to sabotage. 

He had a feeling that if something could make him stab a crewmate, it could make him cut an oxygen supply when he was a few feet away from the dashboard and only semi-conscious. As well as that, he wanted to guard the cameras. People watching them were a problem now, and if anyone saw him acting suspiciously they would be in danger… right? 

Jaune nodded for him to continue.

“I also heard you go from the reactor to comms around 8. I saw Val get kicked out of Nav on the cameras, and then…”

“Then…?”

“I fell asleep, I guess. Must’ve been a little after 9, but I didn’t check. Then this morning, I came up through the upper engine to the cafeteria for the meeting. That’s it,”

Jaune slid their hands back to their sides. “Okay. If I remember correctly, there’s a vent in security-” His heart skipped a beat. What if he  _ had  _ climbed through the vent and killed Raven? “-but it doesn’t lead to anywhere near admin. Just Medbay and electrical,”

“So… I’m clear?” Clover asked.

“Ugh, I guess so. There just isn’t enough evidence. I want to- no,  _ need  _ to make sure we’re all safe, but this is so frustrating!”

“Um, one question,” Lavender said, slightly raising her hand instinctively. “Say we did get enough information to confirm someone as the killer. What exactly would we do with them?”

“I’ve been thinking about that. It isn’t worth the risk to keep them on the ship, so it would be safest to eject them from the ship through the airlock.”

“That seems… harsh.” Clover frowned. Weren’t the stakes already high enough?

“It’s the only way.” They shrugged. “But we don’t have to worry about that for the minute. I have a feeling that deciding on a punishment for the impostor will be easier than finding them.”

Clover nodded.  _ Impostor _ . That was what he was. A faker that had to pantomime every move, constantly hiding their true selves. But now there was another. He glanced around the table again. Valentine, Lavender, Rouge, or Jaune had killed Raven without him knowing. And they probably were only getting started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how the turntables


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe this was what the crew needed. Rouge would be safe from him, finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah yes my favorite ship #launemower

Lavender set a hand on the back of Jaune’s chair. “Hey, are you busy?”

They leaned forward and set the ship on autopilot. “Not anymore.” They smiled. “Why, what do you need?” 

“Well, first, I wanted to make sure you were okay. Val said she saw Rouge come past here. I know all these accusations are getting complicated, but think where all of them have come from. Who  _ hasn’t  _ Rouge accused?”

“Did you say my name?” A figure was standing in the doorway, sliding up the visor of their helmet. 

They frowned at the windshield, slowly standing up.

“This whole time… I never saw it. Not once did you defend yourself. It was always Val this, Clover that. I was too busy telling you to  _ shut up _ that I never asked you where you were."

“Can you shut up and start making sense?”

“Lav, go get Clover and Val.”

She dashed off to find the others, her breathing heavy. She was anxious to leave Jaune alone if Rouge was the imposter. They all gathered with each other in the cafeteria, all of them seeming apprehensive. 

They all looked at Rouge, who didn’t notice, as he was taking off his helmet, revealing his long shaggy brown hair, nodding the red-tipped strands out of his eyes. 

“What?” he asked, looking at the others, his green eyes filling with confusion. 

“Rouge, we think that- well, I think that you’ve been really…” Jaune struggled to find his words. “Hard to trust,”

Rouge scoffed. “What do you mean? I’ve been trying to help this entire time!” He said incredulously. 

“You’ve been quick to accuse. Too quick,” Jaune reasoned, their expression hardening. Their had taken their helmet off, which made their startling blue eyes look much sharper and focused. 

“I’m sorry that I’m using common sense to try and get the people who k-killed our friends! I don’t want to wait until we’re all dead,  _ Nobi _ ,” he said.

Jaune scowled, and took Lav’s hand supportively, who had gotten a little rattled by the yelling. 

“Well, I’ve talked enough. Lavender alerted me of this, but Clover? Val?”

“I guess you’re right…” Clover caught Lavender’s eye. It was her who told Jaune in the first place… and now that he knew Rouge wasn’t the other impostor, this was exactly what he needed. 

Rouge would be safe from him, finally. 

“Or it could be Jaune! They were the one to find Raven and also know all the vent paths! You guys never questioned that!” Rouge said, furrowing his eyebrows.

“This is the whole reason we suspect you! What, that makes…” Jaune pretended to count on their fingers. “Everyone! You’ve accused everyone here of murder! It’s fine to be a skeptic, but seriously? You may as well have climbed into a vent in front of us!”

“That’s true,” Clover said, faking suspicion. 

“Clover…” Rouge took a step back. “It could have been you! Tell me, did you ever care? Was the Clover I trusted- my stern but friendly crewmate- ever in there?” Their eyes narrowed. “Or did you lie? About everything?” They continued through gritted teeth, leaning closer to their crewmate menacingly. “Did you just rip and tear your way to the top with no empathy, nothing  _ human _ about you?”

“That’s enough,” Jaune cut him off. Clover clenched his jaw, trying to silence the echo of Rouge’s words. “Val, that leaves you,”

The group was silent for a moment, waiting in anticipation. Everyone’s attention was directed at the girl fiddling with her thumbs beneath the table.

Valentine glanced up at Lavender, then at Rouge, still looking conflicted. 

“Val, please, no, you can convince them to save me, can’t you- It wasn’t me, I promise!” Rouge said desperately. 

She folded her arms, her eyes narrowing as he backed up against the wall, the folds of his red gloves glinting. “Rouge, you always break your promises. I want everyone to be safe.”

“Come on, this isn’t fair, she doesn’t know the consequences, she doesn’t understand!” His eyes darted across the room, begging to see sympathy in someone’s eyes.

“It’s official, then.” Clover nodded.

“Any last words, Rouge?” Jaune asked, a hand on their hip as Clover stood by the control panel. Rouge’s fists collided with the door, thumping on it repeatedly as his voice grew unsteady. He was pleading now. 

“You idiots have to listen to me!! It isn’t me!! You all are going to d-” 

His voice cut off, as the door to the airlock slammed shut, slicing away the cold air in front of them. As Jaune walked off, their head held high and hand in Lav’s, Clover only grinned at the ground. 

Now, Rouge was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> originally rouge had no personality besides *mean* and no redemption arc, he was literally just a terrible person just thought id let you know that this scene used to have no depth and also the dialogue was terrible before sammy rewrote it


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune has a lot of second thoughts, even though it's far too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow is that attention to a character that doesn't get much development yeah it is

Jaune was sitting alone in Navigation, tapping their foot nervously against the pilot’s seat. If Lavender were to walk in, they would just say they were charting a course across the next set of planets, but they weren’t. 

They weren’t focused on the map in front of them at all. They were trying to understand Raven’s death. Sure, it could have been Rouge. They could have been safe, and that’s what they told Lav when she asked. 

But the sense of inevitability, the loose ends to the murder hung over them and they couldn’t let it go. They were mad at themselves for trusting Lavender so quickly, though Rouge’s constant accusations were suspicious. 

_ Did I actually like Rouge? Am I trying to prove them innocent so I don’t have to remember them as a murderer? _ Jaune stood up, sighing. They decided to leave Navigation. The swirling abyss in front of them speckled with a belt of paint fleck stars was making them dizzy. The moment they stepped outside the room, they remembered something. The vent on the floor outside O2 suddenly caught their eye, and they strode over to it. Leaning over, they tried to glance through the grates, but only saw the shiny interior of the air system. What was it that Rouge said? 

“I dropped a pen in it once and spent hours trying to get it out. I never did.”

_ So Rouge lied about the pen as a method to accuse Valentine. That’s low. _ They thought. They just decided to move on. It wasn’t dangerous anymore to be walking around the ship, but their heart still pounded a bit whenever they turned a corner or heard footsteps. They looped through storage and decided to sit down in admin. It was warmer there, and they wanted a break. 

They always felt awful when they weren’t working as hard as they could, but the exhaustion, for once, was overriding it. Promising themself that they would work on the case later, they pulled a chair over to the table and just traced circles on the metal with their finger. 

Eventually, the humming of the reactor became too distracting and they stood up again, pacing the floor.  Their foot caught on the edge of the vent in the corner of the room. The one that Rouge had pretended was a part of the murder. They knelt over to it, and the shiny finish of something shone between the slats. 

It was a pen. 

They bit their lip, the dozens of things it could mean overridden by the shock of seeing it there. They opened the drawer and grabbed a spare screw, wrestling with the spaces in the vent and trying to get the pen out.  _ Well, this is going to look bad if someone walks in.  _ They finally managed to yank it open, wondering how the killer ever got it open without someone hearing the awful racket they were making. 

They finally managed to drag it out of the vent and held it up to the light. It was already insane that they had found it, but they needed a way to be sure it was Rouge’s. The one he dropped in the vent near oxygen. Yanking off the end, they slid the ink cartridge out into their hand, closing their fist around it. It was almost empty. 

Rouge was the only one in the crew who frequently handwrote things, making all his notes with paper and pens. It made it hell to copy and download, but nobody ever was able to convince him otherwise. Jaune’s mind suddenly flooded with realizations. 

_ This is Rouge’s pen. He said he dropped it in the vent near o2 as a way to point out it was there, but now it’s appeared in admin, which is connected to the o2 vent. It could never hand bounced that far, even with the rocking of the ship, and he said he even tried to get it out. Not only would he have gotten it out much earlier if he knew how to open the vents but why would he bring it up at all? If he never went through the vents, he would have not carried on with Lavender’s conversation even after saying it was stupid, and if he was the one crawling through the vent in the first place, it’s suicide to bring up the one outside o2, the one he supposedly used.  _

Jaune finally managed to silence all but one thought.  _ Rouge was not the impostor.  _

“Lavender, what would you do for me?” Jaune was fiddling with their gloves as they sat against the door of comms. Lavender had come to visit them like she usually did, but didn’t want to leave quite yet. She wrapped her arms around her knees as she sank down next to them. 

“I would die for you,” she replied, tilting her head at their question.

Jaune just sighed. “This is going to sound like I’m a horrible person. Maybe I am, but… I would just… stay away if I were you. Because I don’t want to be pessimistic, but I doubt we’re both going to make it out of here. I know, it’s- bad, but if we stay like this… it’s only going to hurt you. And I don’t want that, I- sorry. What I really want is for both of us to get home safely. But what I also want is the rest of the crew to just…” they almost laughed. “... come back to life. I want to see Sky, Silvius, Raven, and even Rouge again. Especially Rouge. Look, I owe a lot of people apologies, and I don’t want to have to add you to that list. I’m sorry,”

Lav had been staring down at her hands, letting Jaune talk. “Jaune,”

“Yes?” They replied softly.

“I know you care. I know you want me to be safe, but if that needs me to  _ not  _ love you more than anyone else in the world, then…” she looked up at them, a single tear tracing her chin. “I can’t help you,”

She smiled at them through her tears, but Jaune stared down at the floor, their expression soft as they nodded at the ground. Lavender bit back a sob, throwing her arms around Jaune’s neck and kissing their cheek, pressing her eyes shut as she melted into their arms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter was late im binging as many unus annus vids i can before they get deleted


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im trying to figure out how the shift in theme is going to happen in like 2 chapters so it might be a little clunky sorry writing is hard. also there might be too much jaune stuff at one time, i do wish their character arc was more spread out, oh well

_ Hey Rouge,  _

_ I don’t know why I’m writing this. I should probably be fixing the ship or trying to catch the killer, but I guess I’m doing this instead. If I’m honest, I don’t think you’re out there.  _

_ There’s basically no way you got anywhere with that little oxygen and you’d need a miracle to be able to get onto another planet without plummeting to your death. This letter is the definition of a statistical waste of time.  _

_ But some stupid part of me thinks there’s hope. The sliver of a chance that you get this is enough for me, so... I’m sorry. For everything.  _

_ For not ever giving you a chance, not listening to Silvius when they said you were a good person, and of course for launching you into space without doing more research. Nobody has died since you left, which is nice. I’m beginning to look over more options, like maybe that it was Raven and his death was in an accident, and suicides could have been involved.  _

_ It’s complicated, I’m trying so hard to believe you’re okay and have a better chance of surviving than I do right now. Speaking of which, if the killer is still on the ship, I have a feeling I’ll be next. If you do find this I bet you’re screaming at the paper who it was.  _

_ For the record, I can’t hear you. I have to go do a task in electrical soon, but yeah. You can say ‘I told you so’ now. _

_ I miss you,  _

_ Jaune _

Jaune folded the note and walked over to the trash chute. They slid it into the gap in the wall and reached for the lever. Their hand hovered over it, but they sighed, wondering what the point was.  _ There’s a slight possibility that Rouge is okay, right? _

They heard the rumble of the chute ejecting and now they could only wait. Looking outside the ship at the passing stars and distant planets always had helped calm them. 

Now, it just made them anxious. The thought of seeing Rouge’s body floating around in the abyss made them restless. But they didn’t have time to panic. There were tasks to do. Jaune walked to electrical, head lowered. 

They knelt over the panel, leaning away from the fumes from the soldering gun. Jaune suddenly heard someone step into the doorway behind them and dread washed over them, the way waves crawl up onto wet sand. They bit their lip and instinctively furrowed their eyebrows. 

“W-who is it?” they said, not bothering to turn around, still working on the task. 

“Clover,” he said, confusion haunting his voice. “Why didn’t you just turn around?”

They slumped their shoulders, putting down the soldering gun. “I didn’t want to know who it was,” Jaune started. “I… get along with everyone. Lavender taught me how to love, Valentine is like my kid, and you… I always felt. I don’t know. Safe around you,” 

Clover didn’t move.

“It’s just… knowing out of those three who would hurt me is more painful than death,” they continued, turning back on the soldering gun to finish the tasks, trying to stop the stinging that crept behind their eyes. 

They had cried enough today. They heard Clover put the knife back in his pocket, looking over at them. He saw their long shadow shift, sweeping across the light from the doorway. “I- have some tasks to do in Reactor. I’ll be back in thirty to forty minutes,” he said solemnly, his footsteps clacking against the metal threshold. Jaune let out a sigh.

_ At least it’s not Clover. _

That was the last thing they thought before feeling a stabbing pain in their back, something warm seeping down the back of their suit. More indecipherable sounds whirled through their thoughts. Lavender- and she was screaming. She was here? When did she walk in?

Jaune felt their teeth slide off their lip and their own yell of pain join Lavender’s as they whirled around. They forced their eye s open, sucking in all the air they could as they struggled to keep the figure in focus. A dark suit with the visor up, spattered with blood that glimmered in the little light. 

And behind the visor- the coldest, most empty pair of eyes he had ever seen. They were glazed over and hollow, like the insides were an untouched slow globe in which all the life had settled down to the bottom. They were so… dead.

It _was_ Clover then. 

Another stab of pain jolted them back to reality, and they shifted their attention to the doorway. Lavender was standing, frozen, in the hall, an arm wrapped right around Valentine’s shoulder. 

“L-Lav, run!” Jaune commanded sharply. Lavender was crying, holding onto Valentine’s hand. They could tell she wanted to run over. 

“Lavender, pl-please run!” They said, their vision swimming. Lavender still was frozen in shock, heartbroken eyes widening in denial, darting to Clover and back.

“G-GO!” Jaune shouted, collapsing onto the ground, lightheadedness seeping into the corners of their vision. They watched as Clover’s figure towered over them. 

Slowly, he reached up to his visor again and brushed a drop of blood onto the finger of his glove. Staring at it for a moment, Jaune could see his eyes drifting in and out of focus. 

“I-I’m-” He started to say something that felt like a question. But he didn’t finish. Even if he did, Jaune didn’t hear. The pain subsided for a moment- they couldn't feel the ground beneath them, an unusual strain on muscles they couldn't move.

As Val and Lav vanished out of sight, the electrical room fell silent. For nothing in it was alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alt title: me pretending that im still an engineering kid after 3 months of robotics


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lavender and Valentine run away 
> 
> but don't escape.

Lavender leaned against the admin door, her pulse skyrocketing with adrenaline.

“V-Val,” she said, looking over to her, realizing what had happened and softly smiled. She would have laughed if it wasn’t for the impending doom swirling up in her stomach. “We’re barricaded in! Clover can’t get to us now,” she said, letting out a sigh of relief and turning her head over at her friend. 

Valentine had been silent the whole time. She made eye contact, her expression sympathetic. “I know they meant a lot to you,” she said and held open her arms, which Lavender immediately welcomed. Lav’s smile faded, the situation she was in finally registering in her brain.  _ Jaune is gone _ . No more random facts, no more sweet kisses between tasks. She could never see them again. 

“I’m sorry,” Valentine breathed. They sat there in silence for a few moments, and for a small instant, Lavender felt a touch of hope. Maybe the two of them could team together and escape from Clover. Escape from the facility. Escape from all of the bad things in the world. 

“Thanks for the-” Lavender started but felt a tug on the back of her suit and a sharp edge slicing against her skin. As the knife was embedded into the bone, she cried out in pain. Her eyes were wide with agony and Lavender collapsed forward, leaning against the person she trusted the most. 

Valentine opened her visor, her bottom lip trembling as she held the dying body of Lavender. Blood wept from the seam, staining her suit and clouding her vision. 

“I thought we were friends,” she choked out. “Y-you killed all of them. Silvius and Jaune...” Lavender looked up at who she thought was her friend. Valentine knelt to her eye level. “In this world, you either eat or be eaten. You’re too sweet. Too valuable to do anything. Useless tools get thrown out,” Valentine said. There was a roughness to her voice that Lavender had never heard before. It sounded inhuman, like there was something inside of her that was tearing her apart. 

Like she was housing a monster. Something that no eight year old should ever encompass. Valentine grabbed the hilt of the knife, bringing it out of Lavender before stabbing it back in again. She screamed, the sound echoing in the ship. Lavender’s eyesight clouded with blood, which made it hard for her to focus on anything. 

The distant ship alarm, her small whimpering, the lights flickering on and off all were drowned out by her loud but fading heartbeat. The last thing Lavender saw was Valentine’s standing over her, bloodied knife in hand and expression black, her sharp crimson eyes daunting and cryptic. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yep that was really short and i would be astonished if someone didn't see that coming, but there's definitely a shift in tone when there are only the impostors left. I still have a scene that i don't know what I'm doing for, so that might be a little bit, but there is more info on the facility


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clover finds Valentine avoiding him in Medbay, and finally admits to hiding something from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally got this part done, ended up changing the idea for one of the scenes i cut out. Enjoy!

Clover was passing Medbay later that day when he heard something rattling from beneath one of the hospital beds. One of the cabinets on the wall was open and a pen had been left next to one of the lab racks.

“Valentine,” he said. Her head snapped up to look at him, expression like a deer in headlights as she shoved something behind her back. “What are you doing in here?”

She had something in her mouth, and one of her sleeves was rolled up. She shrugged.

“What’s in your hand?” he asked, taking another step closer. As she unfolded her palm, he reached forward and snatched it away from her. 

He rolled it over in his hand, squinting at the label. It was a pill bottle. “Milk thistle extract? Why…” he walked over to her and took her arm. Beneath the highlighter pink fabric of Valentine’s suit was a strange blotted marking, blue-green in color and creating strange patterns on her skin. Cyanosis.

“Why didn’t you…!” He stopped. Her pale face was still so terrified, so... helpless. It hurt to see her like this. “...tell me?”

She shook her head slowly, swallowing the pills. “I couldn’t. I asked you before. You said the goal was for you to get home. Not me.” Her lip trembled. “You didn’t want to help.”

“I-” He wanted to disagree, but she was right. He hadn’t said anything to imply that he cared at all about her. 

Now… she was sick. Very sick. He wanted to save her so badly, but he knew that the part of him that had originally told Val “it doesn’t matter” was still there. He would end up forgetting about her and leave her to die. He shut his eyes. 

“We don’t have much time. Have you figured out what it is yet?”

She nodded, rolling her sleeve back up and slowly getting to her feet. She leaned over the turn on the computer, glancing back at Clover. 

He was running his tongue along his teeth worriedly as the monitor lit up. Val pointed at an entry she had pasted onto a document.

“I… had to look up a lot of stuff, but… I think this is it.”

He scanned the entry. “It’s a fungus…” he muttered under his breath. As he read it, other strange things Val had been doing flooded back into his memory. He hadn’t seen her eat in days, and would suddenly gasp for air in the middle of her sentences. 

Sure enough, almost everything listed fit the symptoms almost perfectly. He was impressed that she had taken initiative so fast. He turned back to her, gently passing back the bottle of pills. “Do these help at all?”

Val nodded. “It makes the marks go away for a little while,”

“Does it help anything else?”

“Sometimes it gets easier to breathe. But not always,”

“Okay.” Clover took a step away from the computer and sat down on one of the hospital beds. He was angry at himself for making her feel alone. He set a hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to try to help you.” 

Val nodded. “We’re gonna win.”

Clover swung his arms behind his back outside security, staring down at Val’s shoes. “Yeah,” he told his crewmate. “We… I just need to make a plan,”

Clover stepped inside security and flopped down in the office chair. His mind was turning so much, he couldn’t even catch clips of the screaming amongst it. It wasn’t saying anything, just yelling. At him. He dug his hands into the sides of his face, feeling his sharp nails dig into his skin. 

He wished he had music or work or  _ something _ to distract him, to block out all of the awful grinding sounds. He would have to face Val eventually, admit what the hell was going on, but he just  _ couldn’t. _

It hurt even thinking about it, everything about the situation that wasn’t numb made him feel like he had a knife at his throat. 

A voice suddenly rang clearly through his head. It was the same sound and tone as his usual thoughts, but seemed the slightest bit off, a lot like when he was explaining the knife to Raven. 

_ You can’t do that if you’re lying to yourself. You’ve taken this too far.  _ He swallowed, checking that Val wasn’t walking by security. At least the voice wasn’t on board with the situation, and it was right. He needed to stop. 

_ No, not time to stop. We’re past the point of no return. You have no option but to keep going with this.  _

“What…?” he whispered aloud. “What about just explaining to her, there’s nothing else we can do…”

_ Everyone but Val may be dead, but that’s all they are. They’re not trapped the same way you are, burdened by power. You’re the only one strong enough. _

He frowned. He didn’t like the idea of being the only one strong enough to survive. Out of all of them, he was the last one that should live. Everyone else was innocent- 

“Wait,” he replied, still trying to keep his voice low. He knew how insane he looked talking to himself, but when he spoke, he knew which voice it was. “What about the facility? I need to know what happened and help-”

_ Val isn’t important. This ship wasn’t going to touch down. It wasn’t even going to leave the facility if it wasn’t for me. If it wasn’t for  _ you _.  _

“You’re wrong…” Clover inhaled.

_ What, you don’t remember what Silvius said? They don’t remember how they got to the ship. Nobody does. Think about every way this journey could have gone and compare it to this one. All your crewmates… you’re saving them.  _

Clover bit down hard on his lip. “You’re sick. I don’t know why I’m listening to you. THe only thing I’m going to do from now on is try my best to save Valentine. I’ve hurt so many people already and I just want all of this  _ stuff  _ to be over. You’re a monster and I don’t want to listen to you,”

_ It’s settled, then. But I’ll make sure to remember which one of us is the monster. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wasn't sure how clear it was, but that last part was just Clover having a complete breakdown, the fungus doesn't actually have a separate conscience. But anyway, thanks for reading! One more chapter of actual story i think, then i have a sort of 'post credit' scene i wanna post as well. Thanks so much for reading!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clover finally manages to regain his composure enough to approach Valentine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo last real chapter here we goo

“I thought I asked you to check the signal again,” Clover frowned, standing in the doorway. Valentine looked up from the floor. 

“I- was cleaning up all of Jaune’s stuff,” she said, pointing at the mess of wires of the ground, scattered with alligator clips and transformer cables. 

“We don’t need to do that right now. Stop being useless and go help with the ship.”

“I am helping!” She shouted at him.

“You’re being a brat!” He retorted, slamming his fist against the nearest surface. The covering came off the electrical panel beside him with the force, and he drew his hand away from the mess of exposed wires, flickering with sparks that leapt up to his fingers. 

He frowned at it before turning back to Valentine. “We have real work to do, we don’t have time to care about any of this. Go check for a signal in comms,  _ now,”  _ he finished.

“No! I don’t want to!”

“If you don’t leave right now, you’ll join Jaune in the official ‘Brutally Murdered by Me in Electrical Club,’ do you hear me?”

“Don’t threaten me!” She huffed. “It’s mean,”

Clover half laughed, half scoffed, glancing over his shoulder. “Wow, says the girl who betrayed her own best friend by stabbing her to death,”

“Clo, I told you already, don’t talk about that! I made it a rule!” She had stormed up to him, arms folded angrily.

He leaned over her, sneering. “There are no rules here.”

“I hate you!” She yelled, trying to kick him in the shins. 

Fury bubbled beneath his skin as she kept trying to attack him. He threw out an arm and shoved her backwards. As she was pushed away from him, she stumbled and fell against the broken circuitry.

The anger suddenly faded as he heard her shriek, her entire body shaking with the electric current, and her face was contorted with agony as she tried to pull herself away. 

Panicked, Clover reached over and grabbed her wrist, dragging her off the panel and letting her crumple over his outstretched arm. 

“I- I don’t know what… I’m so sorry-“ he helped Val turn over to face him and her eyes fluttered open.

“It’s okay…” she murmured. Clutching her small hand in his palm, Clover could tell how cold her fingers were. She was silent for a moment, breathing heavily. Then she smiled softly up at him, half wincing through the pain. “Is… is this what winning feels like?” 

A weight was filling his stomach as she lay against his arm. The same one as when he found out how sick she was or when he saw the panic in Lavender’s eyes as she witnessed him kill Jaune, but…

It hadn’t been as heavy as this since the beginning of their trip home when Raven reported Sky dead. 

Before he had become a monster. He had no excuse now. What he thought was protecting his crewmates was a lie, for now he had no allies. It was only the remains of emotions, shredded into unrecognizable pieces and taught only to kill, no matter who it was. 

All this time he had been worried about the future, but everything he had done in the past was stacking up against him tying itself in knots that had created the chaos he was now surrounded by. In ignoring his old mistakes, he had only made new ones.

He only managed a faint smile as Valentine’s eyes closed and the hand on her chest stopped rising and falling with her shaking breaths.

“No,” he set her gently on the ground, a tear tracing his cheek. “We never could win.”

As the digital clock ticked over in oxygen, a new day arrived on the Skeld. A red light blinked on the security cameras, all the hallway lights gleaming as bright as ever. 

The engines were rattling again, and one would have been able to hear them all the way from Comms. The ship was almost home by now, and the view from Navigation was particularly pretty. 

It was almost as peaceful inside as it was floating in the dark abyss beyond the metal walls of the ship. Tomorrow had finally come, rippling out to the endless space.

Yet there was nobody there to see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go! So that was really dark, but I honestly really enjoyed writing it, again go check out Sammy, @_Microsoft_Nerd_ on Wattpad, they helped write some of these lovely scenes. There are a few things I wish could've gotten more attention but I wanted to keep the pace moving a little more than I usually do. I hope that you all liked reading it, and I might be adding some 'post-credit' scenes Sammy and I wrote afterward.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The letter Jaune wrote wasn't for nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! There was a ton of world building for this story and separate scenes we wrote for fun, so i thought I'd add them here, especially the first one cause it's cute. The other is a data entry from the facility about the fungus that caused all this. Enjoy!

Rouge strode over to the oxygen filter, turning to the side to move one of the spare tanks with his left hand. He still hadn’t gotten used to doing everything with one hand, but it was better than being dead. 

He shivered at the memory, the searing, blinding pain shooting up his arm as he clung to the edge of the ship. It was a miracle in itself that there was even another ship that was nearby. He was eternally grateful that the crew had brought him inside- even if it meant losing one of his arms to a turbine beforehand. 

He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to the crew yet, all he knew was they worked against the facility and hijacked ships on their way there, and that was enough for him. Anything was. He glanced at the digital clock on the counter. 

Nobody had asked him to clean the filter, but he wanted to be helpful. Now that he knew what happened when people didn’t like him. He swept all the leaves and dust off the filter and was about to throw it away when he noticed a leaf that was larger than the others- No, it was a piece of paper. 

He picked it up and shook it open, squinting at the marking on it. It was faded and a little bit rushed, but he would recognize the handwriting anywhere. His heart was pounding as he read it, not quite registering the insane odds of what was happening. 

He must have reread it four or five times before he heard a voice in the doorway.

“Rouge, you’re supposed to be in Medbay, what if your arm starts bleeding again? Navy wanted to redo the stitches,”

“Sorry Sage, I just-”

“Are you crying?”

Rouge folded the paper, biting his lip. “Maybe,”

“If it really hurts, I found more painkillers, so-”

“No, no, it’s not that. I just- here. Um, I found it in the oxygen filter.” Sage tilted her head at the paper, taking it from him and her gaze darting over the lines. 

“Who’s Jaune?” she asked, handing back the paper.

“They were one of my crewmates on the other ship. The one that kind of went south really fast.” Rouge replied, starting to walk back to Medbay.

“I’d ask what happened, but it sounds… complicated.” She smiled. “It sounds like they care about you.”

“I hope so. I miss them, too.” Rouge turned into Medbay, clutching the paper to his chest as Sage vanished to go get Navy. He sighed, brushing another tear off his face. “Ohh, Jaune. I told you so. And tell Clover and Val to get my pen out of the vent.”

NOTES FROM FACILITY SDSB

Facility SDSB 10/20 was responsible for testing the different variations of amungi, but the two mutations tested in Department 22 are particularly corrosive, capable of mutating quickly to grow and evolve. Both variations contain the toxin gyromitrin and harness the nervous system to attack its host and others around it, making it extremely dangerous. During this segment, 50 subjects were injected with Variation A ( _ gyromitra amungi-alpha _ ) and 50 injected with Variation B ( _ gyromitra amungi-beta _ ).

Stage I: Dormant

This occurs directly after finding a host. The fungus does little, no noticeable symptoms or harm is done to the host at all, leading many subjects to believe the testing had failed. 

Stage II: Feeding

Occurs 2-3 days after infection. Essentially ‘testing its limits’, the fungus grapples full control of its host and attempts to spread as much as it can before falling dormant again for 2-4 days. The host is unlikely to remember this stage, often being reported by witnesses as a violent, extremely dangerous outburst, ‘comparable to possession’ - Doctor Gray Pearson, Department 22, Lab 1L

Stage III: Subconscious

Occurs 4-7 days after infection. The fungus is still not nearly as strong as it was during feeding, only capable of taking over the nervous system when the host is unconscious. As well as this, it cannot force the host to speak, nor can it be in control for long periods of time. It will generally try to feed to spread to one more victim, then return to where the host lost consciousness. In 89/100 test subjects, the fungus was unable to complete its route back to the original spot before passing out, leaving many hosts disoriented when they woke up. 

Stage IV: OBE

The host consciously experiences episodes during which the fungus disrupts the nervous system, often causing a 10-15 second instance of paralysis before reaching the brain. These episodes occur almost always (97/100 subjects) when an opportunity to feed is presented to the fungus, and it will take control. 

Stage V: 

An extension of Stage IV, differences include hijacking of vocal chords, allowing the fungus to ‘talk’ through its host. It usually repeats sounds already commonly used.

Stage VI (Variation A):

By stage VI, the host is almost always (46/50 subjects) dead. This can be prevented in earlier stages by tracking the growth of the fungus and taking an antidote of  _ S. marianum _ (milk thistle) seeds. This allows the host to recover over 1-3 weeks, most effective in younger subjects. The remaining 4 subjects were completely ‘taken over’ by the fungus, continuing to feed on the remains of other subjects. A recovered subject described it as such; ‘kind of like being on autopilot to do what it made you, but you became the voice in the back of your own head.’

Stage VI (Variation B):

By stage VI of variation B, some hosts (19/50 subjects) were able to recover, experiencing some loss of coordination over the next 2-5 weeks before returning to normal with few symptoms. Another 31/50 subjects were found dead, liver and kidneys severely damaged and displaying signs of anemia, cyanosis, and other signs of circulatory failure shortly before death. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick note: on the ship Rouge is now on, there are only 3 people, which means that a game of among us, with impostors, can't exist cause I wanted my boy to be safe. also there's a bunch of easter eggs in the entry, namely gray person being 2 letters off gay person, so yeah i wasn't taking it to seriously. I tbh doubt this is the format of anything profession but idk it was fun.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading!


End file.
